5 Lessons I Learned from My 5-year-old Daughter about EPM

Posted by David Den Boer on Thu, Dec 01, 2016 @ 08:12 AM

This past weekend, my daughter turned 5. Everyone knows how important daughters are to their fathers, and I couldn’t be happier with my daughter’s “mermaid & unicorn phase”. However, at her birthday party, dark clouds began to gather as she invited her “boyfriend” from school. She held hands with this little guy and even thinking about it now, it makes me slightly crazy. I can only imagine where I will be in 10 years. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers, please.

Topics: EPM

11 Dirty Secrets of EPM Projects Part 2

Posted by David Den Boer on Wed, Apr 06, 2016 @ 10:04 AM

 

This is the second part of the original post of 11 Dirty Secrets of EPM Projects.

"I thought for Column5's 11th birthday, I'd give our more than 1000 blog readers a gift! I’ve wrapped it up and called in the 11 'dirty secrets' of EPM projects. I know this is heresy to disclose some of these EPM professional services insider secrets, but I care more about you being successful than I worry about the flak I will inevitably get by letting you in on these secrets."

Let’s continue:

Dirty Secret #6: Systems inadvertently create dependency on 3rd party 

Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Implementation, best practices for epm

11 Dirty Secrets of EPM Projects

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, Apr 05, 2016 @ 09:04 AM

Though the actual market size may vary, a reasonable estimation states that throughout the world more than $4 billion is spent annually on EPM consulting alone. Yet, EPM projects often fail to return positive value to those investing in them. Why is this outcome so prevalent with this technology solution in particular? I thought for Column5's 11th birthday, I'd give our more than 1000 blog readers a gift! I’ve wrapped it up and called in the 11 'dirty secrets' of EPM projects.

I know this is heresy to disclose some of these EPM professional services insider secrets, but I care more about you being successful than I worry about the flak I will inevitably get by letting you in on these secrets. Let’s begin:

Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Implementation, best practices for epm

Mind the Gap!

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, Jun 09, 2015 @ 08:06 AM

The traditional IT vs. Finance gap and why it is essential to overcome that for EPM success.

Everyone loves a rivalry, at least when it comes to sports teams. It seems that the bitterer and longer running the rivalry, the better. When it comes to corporate politics, there can be few rivalries as legendary or potent as that between IT and Finance.

No one knows when it all started, but make no mistake, this can be trench warfare that started long before computers were even used in business. I can imagine the conflict raging so long, that there may have been a dialog like this in ancient times, “I simply can’t let you operate the wheel on your own, you don’t have the technical skills. Why don’t you tell me what you need the wheel to do, and I will operate it for you…just so there aren’t any mistakes?” “What? It’s just a stupid wheel; surely I am qualified to figure this out. Let me try it and we’ll see how it goes.”

Topics: Best Practices, Process Improvement, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Financial Information Management

EPM and the Wisdom of Sun Tzu

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, May 26, 2015 @ 14:05 PM

Inspired by my colleague from Column5 EMEA’s use of a military reference, I’d like to discuss some of the parallels of 2500 year old military tactics to EPM strategic objectives.

Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

Column5 Through the Years

Posted by David Den Boer on Wed, Apr 15, 2015 @ 09:04 AM

This month marks Column5’s 10^th anniversary, and we are excited to be celebrating so many years of providing top-notch consulting services to our customers.  In the end, there are two groups who enable Column5 to have such a rich history of success.

Topics: OutlookSoft, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Training, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

What's in a Good, Better, BEST Practice?

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, Feb 03, 2015 @ 12:02 PM

Winston Churchill’s friend once said of him, “Winston is a man of simple tastes, he is always prepared to put up with the best of everything.” The desire for the best is something everyone covets, but this aspiration becomes problematic when “best” cannot readily be defined. So how would you know if you received the best?

Topics: Best Practices, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Training, Performance

Business Intelligence: A Core Business Competency

Posted by David Den Boer on Thu, Mar 13, 2014 @ 15:03 PM

Economic challenges are all around today’s market. We hear about struggling companies that are suffering from poor performance. We know that companies don’t exactly come with manuals for the CEO to reference when things aren’t going well. In the past, conventional wisdom was to focus on the core money making operations of the enterprise. A car manufacturer that also dabbles in satellite technology, a TV manufacturer that also makes laptops, and newspaper that also owns real estate are examples of companies that, when times get difficult, have decided to dump ventures not aligned with the company’s core competencies. That’s what makes Gartner’s assessment ( Business Intelligence: A Core Business Competency) extremely important.

Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Business Intelligence (BI), Analytics, EPM ROI, Value, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

EPM Value Is Exclusively The Client's Definition

Posted by David Den Boer on Mon, Jan 13, 2014 @ 10:01 AM

This is an old story we see all the time. A policeman happens upon a drunk frantically searching for something at the base of a streetlight. “Hello there, looking for something?” The drunk looks up, “Yesh Offisher, I lost my keysh in the park.” “In the park? Then why are you looking on this street corner?” says the confused cop. “The light is better here!” says the drunk.

This is the problem with how EPM projects are governed today, and no, I am not implying drunks are prevalent in EPM! Too often prospects make decisions based solely on price, thinking that value is equivalent across service providers, and net ROI is maximized by selecting the lowest cost implementation proposal. I encourage customers to stop and think about what they get with the low cost provider. A team that doesn’t have the ability to offer the appropriate breadth services that are specifically designed to add value while reducing risk, leave only the lowest common denominator of value in their wake.

Topics: Best Practices, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), EPM ROI, Value, Implementation, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

Ready For a Planning Cycle? 5 Actions BPC Owners Need To Do

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, Oct 29, 2013 @ 08:10 AM

For many companies, its getting to be that time of year again. No, I am not talking about getting ready for Christmas decorating contests in the office...although that is not far off. I am talking about getting ready for the big annual plan.

Topics: Process Improvement, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Project Management